And Baby Makes Five
by seriouslygreys27
Summary: The story takes place after Derek has gone to D.C. for his job and Meredith finds herself pregnant with no one to turn to for help. Left on her own for most of the time with two children and another on the way Meredith has to figure out how to manage her life and also her career. Disclaimer: I DO NOT OWN GREY'S ANATOMY
1. Chapter 1

She sat crouching by the toilet exhausted from throwing up for the past hour. Of course she had been sick with the stomach flu before, but this time seemed so much worse because he wasn't there to hold her hair back and tell her she would be alright.

Of all the times Derek could have left for D.C. this was the time he chose, the time when she was sitting there helpless and alone with two children to look after. After sitting by the toilet for a further five minutes, she managed to hoist herself from the floor and make it to the kitchen to feed the children and get ready for work.

After getting to work and dropping the children off at the day care Meredith went to collect her charts at the nurses station, but not before having to run to the bathroom and throw up again. She had been throwing up for days, it had started just when Derek had left and she was positive it was the stomach flu. I mean what else could it be, she couldn't possibly be pregnant.

She thought about it for while before she managed to work up the courage to take a test. It wouldn't be a bad thing if she was pregnant, she loved her kids, but how could she deal with another baby. She already had two children who she had to look after on her own because of the location of Derek's job, and the stress that she felt with her previous pregnancy, she didn't know how she would go through that again, this time on her own.

The timer on her phone went off and she went over to look at the four tests she had sitting on the bathroom sink. All positive, she didn't know what to think. How would she do this on her own? How would Derek react? Every possible question that she could have asked her self she did.

After coming to terms with the news, she carried on with her day trying to act as normal as possible. She was scrubbing in on a surgery with Bailey but in all honesty she didn't feel up to it at all, she was exhausted and she felt nauseous but she had to. She didn't want to tell anyone about the pregnancy just yet, because she didn't know what to think of it herself. She felt as if everyone she could talk to had left her. Derek was in D.C. Cristina was in another country, and Lexie was gone. All Meredith could think to do was carry on with her day and go and meet Bailey in the scrub room, that was all she could handle right now.

"Grey you look awful, go home if you're not feeling well" Bailey said with a worried but questioning look on her face.

"I am fine, honestly, just the stomach flu or something" Grey replied trying not to show that she was on the verge of throwing up again.

Bailey knew she was lying she knew the minute Meredith walked in that she was hiding something from her, she suspected that something else was bothering her but she didn't want to say anything until they had finished the surgery.

After the surgery Bailey started hinting to Meredith that she knew something was wrong, and at that point Meredith knew that she had to tell her.

"Are you sure you're alright Meredith" Bailey said not expecting an honest answer.

"Derek has gone to DC for a job that made him happy. He is there researching things that could change medicine and all I can think is that he is a selfish arse for leaving me and the kids. It's a horrible thought but I just can't bring myself to be happy for him. I am exhausted and stressed and have two kids who need looking after, and now I am pregnant and Derek is not here to help."

"You're Pregnant?" Bailey said not knowing quite what else to say.

"How far along are you?" The only appropriate question Bailey could think to ask.

"I'm not entirely sure but around 8 weeks." Meredith said in a shaky voice while her eyes welled up with tears.

Bailey didn't know what else to say. Of course Meredith and her were friends, but looking at Meredith and how confused and alone she looked, Bailey just didn't know anything that she could say that would comfort her.

"I need to go and check on my patients." Meredith said hastily knowing that Bailey didn't know what to say to her.

"Wait Meredith, you're 8 weeks pregnant you need an ultrasound to confirm that and make sure that everything is alright, come with me and I will take you down to OB/GYN and do one."

"Are you sure?" Meredith said in a soft saddened tone.

"Of course, come on" Bailey said as she guided Meredith towards the elevator.

A/N This is my first FanFiction so any reviews would be much appreciated, and also let me know if any would like me to continue with this story if not I will abandon it.


	2. Chapter 2

Six weeks had passed since Bailey had done the ultrasound and Meredith was now 14 weeks along. She had told Derek shortly after the ultrasound and in light of her pregnancy he decided that he would return to Seattle every weekend to check on her and the kids, but that still didn't change the fact that for the whole week leading up to the weekend Meredith was on her own and her work load was making her increasingly tired.

Bailey had started supporting Meredith a lot because of Derek's absence, and Meredith had begun to realise that she wasn't all alone and that she would have support throughout her pregnancy. Her relationship with her sister Maggie had also improved. Since Derek had gone to D.C. the shock of having another sister had worn off and Meredith and Maggie had grown a lot closer. The fact that Maggie was there when Derek wasn't meant that Meredith had developed more of a relationship with Maggie and she started to trust her and confide in her more.

It was half way through her shift and she was exhausted. Meredith made her way to the attending's lounge cradling her small but noticeable bump. By now all of her coworkers knew she was pregnant so there was no need to hide it anymore. She lay down on the couch and tried to get some well earned rest when her pager went off. She didn't know how she was going to make it through the week it was only Tuesday and Derek wouldn't be home until Saturday evening.

She made her way to the nurses station where she was paged from to find Maggie reading through a patients chart. She knew that the page would be about a surgery and she didn't have it in her to stand for four hours or more in an operating room.

"Hey did you page me?" Said Meredith who looked extremely tired

"Yeah I did, we have a patient who was admitted an hour ago with a suspected appendicitis but she also has Hypoplastic left heart syndrome and any surgery puts a lot of strain on her heart so I thought I would stay in the operating room when you operated." Maggie replied noticing how tired Meredith looked.

"Are you okay to operate you look exhausted?"

"I'm fine, just a little tired and the morning sickness hasn't stopped yet." Said Meredith trying not to look the way she felt.

"Come over here and sit down you can't operate today I will page Bailey" Said Maggie who was now increasingly worried because Meredith looked quite pale.

"Are you sure" said Meredith who was clearly far to exhausted to even sit up straight.

"Yes I am sure. You can't operate today, in fact my shift finishes at the same time as yours does, I will drive you home and come over and help with the kids for the night." said Maggie who was clearly still worried about how tired Meredith looked.

"You don't have to do that."

"No I want to and then I can hang out with Zola and Bailey and you can get some sleep."

"Well if you're sure I would love it."

"Ok then I will meet you at the first floor nurses station after my shift." Said Maggie

"Ok see you then." Said Meredith looking incredibly relived to have some help.

A few hours passed and it was coming to the end of Meredith's shift. She leaned over the nurses station to grab a patients discharge papers thinking how relieved she was to be going home soon. She wasn't this exhausted when she was pregnant with Bailey and she didn't understand how she would make it another 26 weeks if she was already this tired. She was just finishing up signing the papers when Maggie came and asked if she was ready to go.

"Hey I just have to go and give these to a patient to sign and then I will go and get the kids and we can go." Said Meredith clearly sounding very grateful that her shift was over.

"Okay thats fine, I will meet you out by my car."

Meredith and Maggie had returned home an hour later and after getting Zola and Bailey ready and into bed they sat and talked for a few hours before Maggie drove home.

Meredith crawled into bed just after Maggie had left and started to think about her pregnancy. Up until this point she hadn't really come to terms with the fact that she and Derek were going to have another baby, it hadn't seemed real until now. The beginning of her pregnancy with Bailey had been so different to the current one. Derek was there the whole time supporting her and easing her worries, but this time he wasn't. She was alone, and even though everything so far had gone perfectly with no complications she couldn't help thinking that if something did go wrong Derek might not be there to help her deal with it. She felt awful for thinking it, but she did feel better knowing that Derek was feeling guilty about the whole situation. Since he had found out he made a point of calling her everyday and he said that for every scan that she had he would be there. She knew that he felt bad for not being there all the time, but he had such a big opportunity in D.C. and she couldn't take that away from him.


	3. Chapter 3

Meredith was now 19 weeks pregnant and she woke up not feeling her best. It was a Monday and Derek had left a day prior. They had decided that they would wait until the following week for her scan because Derek had only stayed one day and there wasn't enough time. Meredith had started to come to terms with Derek being away most of the time and she had started to get a good routine going, but the days where she didn't feel well due to the morning sickness which had still not subsided were particularly difficult.

She lay in bed trying not to think about going to work. Even though she loved her work she was beginning to feel the effects of being almost 5 months pregnant and having a job and two kids. Although some days she didn't want to go to work she hated all the hovering when she got there. Because Derek wasn't there, her colleagues had decided that Meredith always needed watching and they were constantly coddling her so she wouldn't work too hard.

Meredith finally managed to make it out of bed, and when she had made it to the hospital and taken the kids to the day care she was already tired. She woke up feeling a little off that morning, and that feeling had since turned into her hormones making her overly emotional and she had cried all the way to work because she realised she put a red top among her whites in the wash. As she made her way to the conference room for a board meeting she felt a familiar flutter, the same that she had felt while pregnant with Bailey, the baby was kicking. At this point her hormones got the better of her and she didn't know what to do with herself. She felt so overwhelmed and sat down on the floor outside the conference room and just cried. Of course she was happy that the baby was kicking, but Derek wasn't there to feel it for the first time and calling him to tell him just wasn't the same.

"Meredith, are you okay?" Bailey said as she came running over worried that something had happened.

"The baby just kicked." Said Meredith as she tried but couldn't quite stop the tears from falling.

Bailey looked at her in confusion. Having thought that something bad had happened, she wasn't quite sure why Meredith was crying over her baby kicking for the first time. Although she suspected the crying to be due to hormones, she didn't want to say anything because she knew how moody Meredith was with Ross and the other interns during her last pregnancy and she didn't want to push her any further. Instead Bailey just helped Meredith up and took her into the still empty conference room.

They sat there in silence for a while until everyone else arrived and the meeting started. The meeting had been quite standard and had just gone over the day to day runnings of the hospital, however everyone had been a little distracted due to the fact that Meredith still had puffy red eyes from all the crying she had been doing. When the meeting finished everyone left to go back to work all some what curious as to why Meredith had been crying.

"I just don't know what to do anymore" Meredith said to Bailey who was the only one left in the room. "He is only here once a week and when he is nothing feels any better. When Derek comes home he hasn't seen the kids in a whole week and all he wants to do is play with them, which I understand but it doesn't make me any less exhausted." She said her eyes welling up with tears again.

"It's the same routine every single day. I get up, go to the the bathroom, notice how completely worn out I look but have no power to do anything about it because I have to do a whole days work at the hospital and then look after the kids when I get home. It's just a vicious cycle that just keeps repeating itself."

Bailey looked at Meredith sympathetically before leaning in to give her a hug. She didn't know what else she could do. She had a husband who was there for her that could look after her and Tuck, and even when he hadn't been there, she wasn't five months pregnant and on the verge of collapsing during every shift.

"Meredith listen to me." Bailey said trying to get Meredith's attention whose mind had since wondered off. "I know it's been hard on you without Derek there all the time, but you have my support and you have the support of every single one of your colleagues."

"I know that but I just miss him. When I was pregnant with Bailey he was there all the time, and as much as I hated him worrying about me every second of the day now that he's not here to do it, I can't help but think that I will do something to compromise the baby's life." Meredith said as she placed a protective hand over her bump.

"I know you're scared about the things that could happen, given all that you have been through in your life. But Meredith you need to stop worrying to the point that it is exhausting you more that going to work." Bailey said as she grabbed Meredith and brought her into another hug something which was so out of character for Bailey.

Meredith didn't have anything left to say at this point. She collapsed into Bailey's arms as she brought her in for a hug and she tried to let her worries go. As hard as it was not to be anxious about every little aspect of her life, she understood that she needed to stop, not only for the well being of herself but also the well being of of her children. Up until this point she hadn't realised how much support she really had in light of Derek's absence, and she knew that if she let people help, getting through her pregnancy while looking after 2 children wouldn't be so hard.

Meredith came home that night after her shift and lay herself down on the bed. Enveloping her bump as the baby kicked yet again, she realised how lucky she was to have two children and another on the way. As hard as it was going to be, Meredith knew that everything would be worth it in the end, and even without Derek there all the time she knew she would manage.

A/N I have decided that I will continue on with this story and hopefully the good reviews will continue. I am curious to see myself where it goes and I will aim to do one chapter a day.


	4. Chapter 4

"You're looking happy today." Said Callie after noticing the beaming smile on Meredith's face.

"Yeah, Derek's coming home today for the week because he has some time off and also I have my 20 week scan." Meredith said as she filled out a patients chart.

Meredith had been in a good mood since a couple of days prior when she found out that Derek was coming to Seattle for a week instead of just a couple of days. Things had gotten easier at home with managing the kids and work, but she was still really looking forward to having some help for the week.

Just as Meredith was finishing up a patients chart, Owen ran past her and Callie and informed them of a mass casualty a few blocks from the hospital and said that they would be getting a lot of victims and to go to the ER as soon as possible. Meredith and Callie looked at each other quickly before making their way to the elevator.

When Meredith got to the ER she didn't know what to think. Obviously it had been busy before but this was completely different. There were patients everywhere, every bed was full and they were beginning to use the trauma rooms for surgery because all the operating rooms had been filled within minutes of the first ambulances arriving.

Meredith made her way to the emergency room entrance where the paramedics were bringing patients in and waited until Owen, Callie and Bailey all had patients before taking the next one to come through the doors.

"What have you got?" Said Meredith to the paramedic who was rushing in with a patient.

"35 year old female, found about fifty metres from the blast. Was conscious at the scene but has since lost consciousness, we stabilised her on the way here however she has obvious internal injuries and bleeding."

Meredith had just started to examine the injuries to the women's abdomen when she looked up at her face. The whole situation had been so chaotic that Meredith hadn't even looked at the patient until now.

"Oh my gosh." Meredith said in a shocked voice as her hand dropped to her bump

Bailey came running over to see what was going on. She had heard Meredith and was worried something had happened to her or the baby.

"It's Izzie, the patient, It's Izzie." Meredith said in a panicked voice.

Bailey just stared in shock. No one had seen Izzie since she divorced Alex, no one even knew where that she was in Seattle.

"She's bleeding out we need to get her into surgery." Said Meredith after snapping herself out of the shock she was feeling.

"Are there any operating rooms free?" Meredith asked hastily.

"One just opened up." A nurse shouted from across the room.

"Okay, Bailey we need to take her up can you operate with me?"

"Yes of course." Bailey said her voice still shaky from shock.

* * *

><p>A few hours later Meredith was sitting by Izzie's bedside when Derek walked in.<p>

"Hey Meredith I heard what happened, are you okay?" Derek said in a soft voice.

"I didn't even know she was here in Seattle." Meredith said her voice shaky and quiet from crying. "I haven't spoken to her since she left and now that she is here I can't speak to her cause she is in a coma. How could this happen Derek?" She said as she collapsed into Derek's arms crying.

"She'll be okay, she's stable the surgery went well. She just needs some time before you can take her out of the coma." Derek said as he held Meredith in his arms.

"I just, I never thought something like this would happen again. I mean after George and Lexie and Mark, I thought all the death in my life had ended." Meredith said as she sat back down next to Izzie.

"Meredith, she's not dead and she's not going to be. She will be alright." Derek said in a comforting reassuring voice.

Even though Meredith hadn't said anything, she was really glad that Derek was home and that he come back on that particular day. With everything that was going on with Izzie she knew she needed him and he knew that he had to be there.

Just as Derek went to sit down next to Meredith, her hands to shot down to her abdomen and her jaw clenched as she winced in pain.

"Meredith, are you okay?"

"Yeah I am fine." She said as she tried to stop the tears in her eyes from falling to her cheeks.

"You're not okay, come on we will go up to OB and get you checked." Derek said his voice encased with worry.

Meredith was silent as the doctor did the ultrasound. She couldn't help but thinking that there was something wrong with the baby. She felt almost guilty, she had spent her entire pregnancy with Bailey worrying about what could happen and when nothing did she figured that this pregnancy would go smoothly and so she stopped worrying. She couldn't even look at the screen, she just turned her head away and thought about something else.

"Meredith, Meredith" Derek said trying to get her attention. "The baby is fine, she's healthy, have a look."

"She?" Meredith said with a small smile on her face. "It's a girl?"

"Yes we're having a girl." Derek said trying to contain his excitement.

"Wait, then what was the pain?" Said Meredith still a little on edge about it all.

"The pain was caused due to the stress from today, you aren't going into preterm labor or anything and the baby is absolutely fine. Her size is good for 20 weeks, maybe a little small but nothing to be worried about and her heart beat is strong. You have a very healthy baby girl." The doctor said trying to reassure a clearly worried Meredith.

Derek leaned down to a very relieved Meredith to kiss her. He knew she had been really worried and that after today she would probably be far more cautious about the baby, but for now he knew she was happy and that despite him not living in Seattle she would be alright.

* * *

><p>It had been a a few days since Izzie had been admitted to the hospital and Derek was getting ready to go back to D.C. As much as Meredith didn't want him to leave she was feeling better because she had gotten a call from the hospital saying that they had taken Izzie out of the coma that morning and she was doing well.<p>

Meredith said goodbye to Derek, and then made her way to work. She was anxious to get there because of Izzie waking up and she wanted to make sure everything was alright. When she got there Izzie had woken up and was stable but still a little groggy.

"Hey Izzie, how are you feeling?" Meredith said, relieved that Izzie had woken up with no complications.

"I'm fine just tired." Said Izzie in a quiet strained voice.

"What were you doing here?"

"I got a job at a cancer research centre for kids, I was on my way to work when the bus exploded in the middle of the street." Izzie said already exhausted from all the talking.

"Well I am glad you're doing well, it was touch and go for a while. I have to go and round on my other patients but I will check on you later okay?"

"Okay, sounds good. Hey Meredith, thank you"

Meredith walked out of Izzie's room relieved that she was alright but that relief soon turned to worry when Meredith realised she had to tell Alex. Alex had been out of town, he had left the day before the accident and was due back today. She knew that he and Izzie were never going to get back together, that had ended a long time ago and he was now with Jo, but she was still nervous to tell him because of all him and Izzie had been through together.

After having told Alex about Izzie, Meredith went about her day as normal. The day had gone incredibly fast after that and she wasn't sure if it was due to Izzie being in Seattle or Derek going back to D.C. It was already coming to the end of her shift and Meredith was well ready to go home, she collected Zola and Bailey from the day care and made her way home. When she got home she put the kids into bed and after that collapsed on the couch. It hadn't been a particularly busy day but she just felt so drained from everything that had happened. She lay down on the couch and talked to the baby for a while before going to sleep.

A/N I wanted to bring Izzie back because I love her character so much, however I am not going to have her return to Seattle and interfere with Alex and Jo's relationship. I think they are so good together and I don't want to ruin that. I thought that maybe Izzie could instead be of some support to Meredith but I haven't really decided anything yet I will just have to wait and and see.


	5. Chapter 5

Meredith was now 25 weeks pregnant and thankful that Izzie had fully recovered. She had been discharged from the hospital 2 weeks after the accident and had gone home to the apartment she was renting in Seattle.

While Izzie had been in the hospital, the research centre she was working at expanded to all the hospitals in Seattle which meant that there was now a research department on the children's Oncology ward at Grey Sloan Memorial. This also meant that because of Izzie's employment history, they decided it would be wise to have someone there that knew some of the staff and as a result they transferred her to work there. Izzie had mixed feelings about the whole situation. Of course she was glad to be going back to work at the place she started her career, but she was also worried about the fact that even though she had no intention of getting back together with Alex, she had kept a secret from him that she knew once he found out about would have a huge impact on his life.

Izzie still had a week until she started work and Grey Sloan Memorial because of her recovery and she was trying to figure out how she was going to tell her friends and most importantly Alex about what she had been hiding since she left. She was hoping that they would be happy for her, but she couldn't shake the thought that everyone would resent her for not telling them about her daughter.

Her daughter was four and her name was Madison Alex Stevens, her middle name being that of her fathers. Izzie had decided in the months after she left Seattle that she wanted a child, and the only way to do that was to use the eggs that she had frozen during her cancer treatment. Izzie had never talked to Alex about what she was going to do with the eggs that were fertilised by him, and when she decided that she wanted a child she didn't tell him because of the way she had left things. She had thought that she was never going to go back to Seattle and so Alex would never find out and it would be of no consequence, but that all changed when she received a job offer. She knew the minute she told people about Maddie they would know that she was Alex's daughter and then when they saw her they would be even more sure. The only thing Maddie inherited from her mother was her hair, that little girl looked exactly like her father.

* * *

><p>"Maddie honey what do you want for breakfast?" Izzie asked as Maddie came skipping into the kitchen.<p>

"Cereal please." The little blond curly haired girl said as she gave her mother a hug.

"So Maddie how do you want to spend the day?" Izzie asked her daughter after handing her the bowl of cereal. "I thought we could have a look around Seattle and then go to the zoo."

"Really?" Maddie's head shot up and her eyes widened at the mention of the zoo.

"Ok then, I guess we are going to the zoo. Finish your breakfast and then get changed and we will go when you're ready" Izzie said as she smiled at Maddie who had already managed to get milk all over her pyjama top.

Izzie was smiling watching her daughter try and finish her breakfast as fast she could in order to get to the zoo sooner when someone knocked on the door. She just assumed it was her landlord coming to discuss her lease on the apartment. Izzie had been trying to get out of her lease for the last week so that she could move her and Maddie into a house closer to the school she wanted to send Maddie to, she also wanted some more space for the two of them and a garden for Maddie to play in. Izzie made her way to door and opened it not worrying about Maddie who had yet to finish her cereal.

"Meredith." Izzie said in a hesitant voice. "What are you doing here, you didn't call first?"

"Sorry, I didn't realise you were busy I just thought I would drop in and see how you were doing." Meredith said confused as to why Izzie was so reluctant to let her in.

"Who is it Mommy." Maddie said as she came over to the door where Meredith and Izzie were standing.

Meredith started at the little girl for a few seconds and Izzie knew straight away Meredith was well aware that Maddie was Alex's daughter.

"Meredith this is my daughter Maddie."

"Hi Maddie, i'm Meredith one of your Mommy's friends from when she lived in Seattle." Meredith said still a little taken aback by the whole revelation.

"Maddie why don't you go and get dressed and I will talk to Meredith for a little bit and then we can go to the zoo." Izzie said as she looked at Meredith who was clearly annoyed that she hadn't told her about Maddie. "Come in, I suppose I have some explaining to do."

* * *

><p>Izzie had explained everything to Meredith who was understanding but still annoyed. All Meredith could think about was Alex. He had been through so much in his life and now this, she just wasn't sure how much more he could handle. He had finally gotten to a point where he was happy with Jo, and him having a child was going to threaten all of that. Meredith knew that Izzie had to tell Alex but she said that Izzie should wait until the end of the week to figure out some sort of way to break the news to him so that he didn't completely freak out.<p>

That night when Meredith got home she immediately called Derek who was equally as shocked as she was. The fact that Izzie had child and it was Alex's was a lot to handle in one day and Meredith was absolutely exhausted when she got home. After she had gone to see Izzie, Izzie had invited her Zola and Bailey to the zoo, that way Meredith could properly catch up with Izzie and also get to know Maddie a bit. She was such a sweet girl, and Meredith knew that Alex would love her after getting past the initial shock of having a child but she was still worried about how he would take the news and also what Jo's reaction would be.

Meredith lay in bed thinking about what she could do to prepare Alex, but she couldn't think of anything that would make the news less shocking so she decided to give it a rest for tonight and go to sleep.

A/N I will make sure to include Alex and Jo in the coming chapters and their reactions to Alex having a child but I think I will stick with the majority of the story being based of Meredith's pregnancy.


	6. Chapter 6

"Alex, please don't walk away. Lets just talk about it." Izzie said as she tried to get Alex to sit down.

"Talk about it. You want me to talk to you about it. Izzie you came back to Seattle after no one had heard from you since you left, and now you're telling me I have a daughter who is four years old. Did you really think I was just going to sit down and talk about it with you."

"Alex I am sorry I truly am, but what was I supposed to do." Izzie said as tears began to roll down her cheeks. "I wanted to start a new life and that new life for me included a child."

"You should have told me Izzie. That child is mine and I don't even know her name. I don't know what her favourite food is or her favourite animal. I don't know what she looks like the colour of her eyes, her hair. You took that all away from me the minute you decided to do this on your own."

"Her name is Madison, Madison Alex Stevens. Alex I know this is a shock and I know I should have told you the minute I decided to have a child but I am not in any way forcing you to be a part of her life if you don't want to. She doesn't have to know that you're her father."

"Are you kidding me Izzie. She is my daughter of course I want to be a part of her life, but as for yours well thats where it gets complicated. I don't know if I can forgive you for this, because of you I have missed out on four years of my daughters life. She doesn't even know me how do you think she is going to react when suddenly she has a father."

"Alex I don't expect you to forgive me, but if you want to be a part of Maddie's life you are going to have to put your feelings towards me aside and focus on her. She is in the daycare upstairs, if you're okay with it I can bring her to meet you after your shift."

The meeting between Alex and Maddie had gone well. Since Maddie was still so young she didn't really understand everything that was going on, but she understood that Alex was her dad and that from now on she would see him. Although at first Alex had been shocked by the fact that he had a daughter the minute he met her he completely changed the way he thought about her and he felt like the relationship he had with Izzie was not something that he should regret and that there was in fact a silver lining to the end of their marriage. He was however worried about Jo, who hadn't taken the news so well when he told her. He knew it wasn't her fault that she was angry, she did have a right to be, but this was his child and he wasn't going to let anyone prevent him from spending time with her because he had already lost four years of her life and he wasn't planning on losing anymore.

* * *

><p>Meredith like Alex was also in good spirits. She had spoken to Cristina that day and Cristina had told her that she would return to Seattle for a week when Meredith had the baby, that way they could catch up and at the same time Cristina could also meet the new baby. Meredith's happiness also had a lot to do with the fact that Derek had been back that week, and him and Meredith had been shopping for baby things. They had a lot of things that they could use again from Bailey, but since they never had Zola as a new born they didn't have any baby clothes for girls and decided that they should start buying some things.<p>

Meredith had spent the morning sorting Baby clothes because her shift didn't start until noon. She was beginning to feel more content and relaxed with her pregnancy, and she was enjoying it a lot more than her previous pregnancy with Bailey and therefore her stress at home had been reduced. She was also much happier at work, and her and Derek had been getting along a lot better despite him remaining in D.C. After Derek had found out that Izzie had fully recovered he suggested that Meredith look to Izzie for some support. This led to Meredith and Izzie reestablishing their friendship, and in a few short weeks Izzie became someone who Meredith could rely on and really trust despite keeping her daughter a secret for four years.

* * *

><p>Meredith got to work at around 12 in the afternoon. She had been sorting through baby things and running after the kids all morning so she was already quite tired but she had a surgery to do and she was quite looking forward to it. She was scrubbing in with Izzie, who after leaving Seattle had become a surgical oncologist and even though she was currently working in research she did the odd surgery from time to time. Their patient was a 64 year old female who had malignant lesions on her pancreas and so Izzie and Meredith were performing a Whipple.<p>

"Hey Izzie, we have a surgery in 10 minutes so I will meet you in the OR." Meredith said to Izzie as she was walking into a patients room.

"Ok cool, looking forward to it." Izzie replied with a big smile on her face.

Izzie had been relieved because of Alex's reaction to learning he had a daughter. She had always wanted Maddie to have a father in her life, but when Maddie was a baby all she needed was her mother and that was enough. Izzie was just glad that Alex had been brought into Maddie's life now, at a time when Maddie was still young enough to accept Alex as her father and grow up with a dad who would always be there for her. Looking back Izzie would have liked Alex to be a part of his daughters life right from the start and she regretted not letting that happen, but she was incredibly thankful that now he was and Maddie would grow up with a Dad and when Maddie got older Izzie wouldn't have to explain why she had no idea who her father was.

A/N I am sorry for the kind of short chapter I am working on making them longer but I just didn't have any time today and I wanted to post something but the next chapter will be longer and will focus lots on Meredith and Derek and also Meredith's baby shower.


	7. Chapter 7

Meredith sat in her dimly lit bedroom listening to the rain fall down onto the roof like a thousand hooves pounding onto the ground. It had never bothered Meredith before because she lived in Seattle and well rain was just a part of the deal, but this morning she felt discouraged by it. For Meredith on a day like today the rain made her feel desolate and she longed for company as she lay alone in her cold bed. Maybe it had something to do with her losing a patient the day prior, or Derek not being there to comfort her when it happened, but she decided that she just needed to be sad and everyone would have to deal with that for as long as the feeling lasted.

Her shift was starting at nine so she still had a couple of hours to properly wake up and get ready. As she lay there cradling her every growing bump she couldn't shake the feeling of sadness that had occupied her soul. She knew she had everything to be happy about; she had a growing family, a husband whom she loved, and a career that was going places, but this morning in this moment none of that seemed enough. The only thing that Meredith was happy about was the fact that this feeling wasn't going to last forever and soon she would feel better.

An hour later after the sadness that she felt had some what dissipated, Meredith managed to lift herself out of bed and onto her feet. It was getting increasingly difficult for her to move around as a result of her being 32 weeks pregnant. She didn't know where the time had gone, her pregnancy had flown by so quickly and she hadn't quite realised that in only 8 short weeks she would have a baby in her arms.

Meredith made her way to the kitchen noticing the undisturbed calm that enveloped the room. She hadn't been in a room that was this quiet since she was a child. She loved her life just the way it was but something about walking into a room that was completely serene made her wish she got to experience that feeling more often. She soon snapped back to reality realising that she had said to Callie that she would pick up Zola and Bailey at 8.30, and it being already 8 she was going to have to get ready and get out the door faster than usual in order to make it on time. She made her way out to the car, her mind full of thoughts each one seemingly more important than the next. She went from feeling discouraged and sad a few hours ago, to feeling completely frantic and stressed about every little detail of her day. She felt so overwhelmed and she wasn't sure why. It wasn't as if she had mountains of things to do, she just needed to pick up the kids and go to work, but even the smallest of tasks were getting Meredith incredibly worked up.

* * *

><p>After picking up the kids and dropping them off at the hospital daycare Meredith made it to work only 10 minutes late. Being at work gave her a sense of relief but at the same time she knew that she had an entire shift to get through and with her stress levels already through the roof this early in the morning she wasn't sure how she was going to make it the entire day without screaming at someone.<p>

"Hi Bailey" Meredith said trying to sound happy as Bailey walked in and sat down.

"What has got you in a mood?" Bailey asked clearly not fooled by Meredith's happy demeanour.

"Nothing" Meredith said still trying to fool Bailey who was clearly not believing anything Meredith was saying.

"Grey don't you dare try and lie to me. I am doctor Bailey and I know when someone is not fine and you Meredith Grey are not fine."

"I am honestly, I am just having one of those days. Hormones you know?" Meredith said as she lowered herself slowly into a chair.

"You should go home, I mean you must be just about 34 weeks you should go on maternity leave." Bailey said already knowing what Meredith's answer was going to be.

"I am pregnant, not dying. I can work up until my due date." Meredith said in an annoyed voice. She knew that Bailey was right but she didn't want to admit it. She was 8 months pregnant and exhausted but she couldn't bear the thought of having to stop work until at least 9 months.

At this point Bailey thought it best to leave an annoyed hormonal Meredith to her work so she said goodbye and left the room. Meredith was still sitting in the attending's lounge 5 minutes later when her pager went off. She was hoping that her day would be quiet, that she could just do the two surgeries she had scheduled and then go home but as soon as her pager went off she realised that her relaxed day wasn't going to happen.

* * *

><p>A few hours later an exhausted Meredith made her way to a board meeting that Owen had organised that morning. After spending half her day in the pit, her back was aching and the baby was doing somersaults and kicking her in the rib and all Meredith wanted to do was go home and lie down in front of the television, which for Meredith was something very out of character.<p>

She made her way into the conference room and sat down. Callie and Arizona were already there sitting opposite each other not talking, and Jackson walked in just after Meredith had sat down. Callie took one look at Meredith which was enough to notice how tired she looked, but she decided not to comment after Meredith shot her an angry look of warning because she had seen the way Callie worryingly looked at her. Instead Callie just settled on asking Meredith how her day was to which Meredith replied by saying it was fine.

The board meeting had seemed to drag on for hours when in reality it was only 45 minutes. Meredith couldn't focus at all because the baby wouldn't stop kicking her and she hadn't paid attention to anything that was said in the meeting. Following the meeting Owen approached Meredith hoping to discuss when she would be going on maternity leave, but he soon backed off when Meredith made her feelings about the issue very obvious. She couldn't understand why everyone was so eager to get rid of her. When she was pregnant with Bailey no one was like this, of course Derek would hover over her and urge her to slow down but everyone else seemed to leave her alone, but now it was like everyone at the hospital in the absence of Derek had made it their duty to ensure her safety every second of the day and it was becoming quite annoying.

As much as Meredith didn't want to admit it she missed Derek a lot. She was starting the last 2 months of her pregnancy and she wanted him home to be there with her. She knew that he would be moving back to Seattle for good 2 months after the baby was born because that was when the research period was ending, and she knew that between now and then he would be home every week but it didn't seem enough. She was just feeling really alone and maybe it was because she was having a bad day but all she wanted was for him to be there so he could hold her and comfort her and tell her that everything was going to be okay.

* * *

><p>Meredith got home that evening after her shift not feeling any better than she had that morning. Callie had said she would look after the kids again in order for Meredith to get some more rest, so when she got home she was going to go straight to bed and get a good night sleep. No sooner had Meredith walked through the door when she heard the water running in the bathroom. She immediately worried because she had thought she had left the water on, but when she rushed into the bathroom she saw Derek sitting on the bed.<p>

"What are you doing here?" Meredith said trying to hide just how pleased she was that Derek was there.

"They gave me some time off so I thought I would come and see you." Derek said knowing all to well that Meredith had been having a bad day.

Bailey had called Derek that morning after she had seen Meredith and told him that Meredith was not looking very happy, and so Derek had asked for some time off so he could go back to Seattle for a while. His research had been going really well and they had made some big breakthroughs, so after Derek asked for some time off they told him that he could continue the rest of the brain mapping research back in Seattle and they would fund a research facility there. He had wanted to tell Meredith immediately that morning, but when he got the call from Bailey he thought he would surprise her instead.

"I am really glad you're back." Meredith said as Derek pulled Meredith towards him and hugged her. "How long are you back for?" She said expecting him to say a couple of days.

"For good." He said smiling when he saw the look of shock on Meredith's face. "The research was going really well, so they said that they would expand to other cities and they are setting me up with a research facility here in Seattle so that I can coordinate the research efforts from here."

Meredith didn't know what to say. She had been so stressed without Derek and now that he was coming back she could finally relax. Derek placed his hands on Meredith's swollen abdomen and started to talk to the baby. She didn't know how he could do that, make her cry by just being himself. She was sure it was the hormones, she wasn't usually like this, but she was just so happy that he was back and that they could finally enjoy the rest of her pregnancy without having to plan when he would be back in Seattle or when he could spend time with the kids.

"Are you okay?" Derek said noticing that Meredith had tears in her eyes.

"Fine, I am just really pleased that you are here." Meredith said placing her hands on top of his.

He knew how much stress she had been under because he had called Bailey a few times and asked her how Meredith was doing, but he didn't quite anticipate just how happy and relieved she would be when he came back to Seattle. He felt a sense of guilt wash over him. He knew that after he had found out that Meredith was pregnant they had sorted things out and he had gone to D.C. on good terms, but he couldn't help but feel guilty seeing how relieved she really was that he was back and much she had hated him being in D.C. but had never said anything because it was something that he needed to do. He knew that she didn't resent him for going anymore but despite all that he still felt as if she had sacrificed so much to let him live out his dream.

"I am sorry for leaving, I know we both agreed that it was okay but I am still really sorry." Derek said as he embraced Meredith in another hug.

For some reason what Derek said was just what Meredith needed to hear. Suddenly she realised that all she had needed all this time was for Derek to recognise what Meredith had sacrificed for him, and to tell her that he was sorry. She knew now that the last 2 months of her pregnancy were going to be so much better than the first 8 and that she and Derek were finally in a place where they were completely happy.

They spent the next hour lying in bed just being in each others company. They knew now that they could start enjoying their marriage a lot more than they had when Derek was in D.C. and Meredith was in Seattle, and that they could give Zola, Bailey and the soon to be new addition a stable home to grow up in.

A/N I am sorry it took me a few days to update I am back at school and so I won't be able to update as often but there will definitely be a new chapter up every week.


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